[pkny]

Did another A/B/A test between Maxoak k2 and Bixpower BP-90-12v power banks yesterday. With Bixpower, Mscaler sounds smoother, warmer, and a little bit more details. The tiny increase of details reveals more ambient cue that improves instrument separation and front-to-back layers. The improvement is very very small, but I really like the overall result. Everything sounds more real. I have live recordings from a local harpist/violinist. Before using Bixpower, the instrument from the recordings sounds a bit off when comparing hearing it live. Now, with Bixpower, it sounds like I am listening live.

@Rob Watts, the Bixpower's battery life seems to be good (much better than Kirsdonia's). After ~7 hrs of playtime, according to its indicator, it stills had 30% left (I should had measured the actual voltage, but I forgot after got struck by a 5.1 earthquake). Anyway, I believe it can power Mscaler for >8 hrs without problem.

Edit: I shouldn't say a local harpist/violinist. He is a world-class harpist/violinist who plays in local since COVID.

 

[Rob Watts]

Better sound and decent life - perfect. I will order one. Thanks for the good news @pkny

 

[AndrewOld]

Now, with Bixpower, it sounds like I am listening live.

How can that be true? What system do you have that can both capture and replay the reverberant field of the original performance?

 

[pkny]

How can that be true? What system do you have that can both capture and replay the reverberant field of the original performance?

I didn't do the recording. It was the harpist/violinist who's doing the live recordings.

I didn't mean I could hear the reverberant field of the original performance. I meant without the switch circuit in the power bank, the timbre of the instrument sounds more like the real thing. Before, it sounded a little too warm. The attack sounds a bit rounded. Now, it is not too warm or too bright. The attack is no longer rounded. It's just right.

English is not my first language. Hoping I explained right this time.

 

[Reactcore]

I meant without the switch circuit in the power bank, the timbre of the instrument sounds more like the real thing.

Nice a good ready made battery solution is found.
I wonder if the switching part is completely off while using unregulated. Or just not delivering current..

 

[pkny]

Nice a good ready made battery solution is found.
I wonder if the switching part is completely off while using unregulated. Or just not delivering current..

I don't think the switching in the 5v and the regulated 12v ports are completely off if that is what you are asking. But I think it is okay as long as there is no load on those ports.

 

[pkny]

Has another session test this morning. Played mostly 44.1 and 48khz in 16x mode. The starting voltage was 12.38v. After 4.5 hrs powering Mscaler, the voltage of bixpower dropped to 11.18v (11.18/3=3.71v), which is around 50% of its capacity.

 

[GuiltyRocker]

I am demoing the Nordost Silver Shadows BNC cables on the M Scaler, and wow! These cables are insane, everything sounds better. It is just nuts.

 

[GuiltyRocker]

These babies

 

[gshyoung]

Either I’m colour blind or something’s not quite right.

I have my Hugo2 connected to the HMS via dual BNC to 3.5mm coax, but I’m getting a light blue LED instead of a deep purple one on the Hugo2 viewing window when the up sampling rate is set to max 16x.

My source is 44.1-48khz Qobuz connected via USB to an iPhone13 Pro Max. The input on my Hugo2 is set to coax dual data.

The light blue LED is supposed to represent an output SR of 176 khz which is significantly lower than the 700+ khz I would have expected given my settings. I should be hitting 1m taps, but I don’t think that’s the case.

Can anyone shed some light?

 

[Jawed]

Can anyone shed some light?

Here's a test you can try:

1. With HMS connected to Hugo 2, disconnect one BNC plug from HMS
2. Tell us what colour light you get
3. Re-connect the BNC plug that you disconnected in step 1
4. Disconnect the other BNC plug
5. Tell us what colour light you get

 

[gshyoung]

Here's a test you can try:

1. With HMS connected to Hugo 2, disconnect one BNC plug from HMS
2. Tell us what colour light you get
3. Re-connect the BNC plug that you disconnected in step 1
4. Disconnect the other BNC plug
5. Tell us what colour light you get

Thank you. I’ll give it a go when I get home tonight.

 

[gshyoung]

Here's a test you can try:

1. With HMS connected to Hugo 2, disconnect one BNC plug from HMS
2. Tell us what colour light you get
3. Re-connect the BNC plug that you disconnected in step 1
4. Disconnect the other BNC plug
5. Tell us what colour light you get

Hi @Jawed , here's the test results

Photo #1
Both BNC plugged in

Photo #2
Left BNC unplugged
Right BNC plugged

Photo #3
Left BNC plugged
Right BNC unplugged
No LED, no sound

Not sure what conclusions to draw from this?

I'm leaning towards a dodgy hack cable that's the root cause. The cable is a custom cable on loan by the store I bought the HMS from while I wait for mine to arrive.

If I look at the @Rob Watts 's photo, the input light on his Hugo2 is cyan, compared to mine which more white:

Thanks

 

[ecwl]

Hi @Jawed , here's the test results

Photo #1
Both BNC plugged in


Photo #2
Left BNC unplugged
Right BNC plugged


Photo #3
Left BNC plugged
Right BNC unplugged
No LED, no sound


Not sure what conclusions to draw from this?

I'm leaning towards a dodgy hack cable that's the root cause. The cable is a custom cable on loan by the store I bought the HMS from while I wait for mine to arrive.

If I look at the @Rob Watts 's photo, the input light on his Hugo2 is cyan, compared to mine which more white:


Thanks

I think it means either
1) your left BNC Is not working or
2 your dual BNC to 3.5mm is busted so the left BNC cable is not getting through
3) it is unlikely that the HMS is not outputting the left BNC signal or the Hugo2 is not accepting the left BNC signal

You can further test this by swapping the left and right bnc cables and re-running these three tests to see if the problem is with the cable or the adaptor

 

[gshyoung]

I think it means either
1) your left BNC Is not working or
2 your dual BNC to 3.5mm is busted so the left BNC cable is not getting through
3) it is unlikely that the HMS is not outputting the left BNC signal or the Hugo2 is not accepting the left BNC signal

You can further test this by swapping the left and right bnc cables and re-running these three tests to see if the problem is with the cable or the adaptor

OK, on further testing, this is what I've found.

One of the BNC cables is dodgy. When I have this cable plugged into either of the BNC outputs by itself on the HMS, I get no LED on Hugo2 and no sound.

I then switch over to the "working" BNC cable. I plug this cable into either of the BNC outputs by itself, and I get the light blue LED and sound. However, the sound is very "mono" and flat - not sure if that's to be expected? When I then plug the "dodgy" BNC cable into the other BNC output, then the sound returns to full stereo like. I'm not sure how to explain this, but it appears the second dodgy BNC cable is adding to the sound quality when plugged in together with the other working BNC cable, but it just doesn't work when plugged in by itself.

So clearly both the BNC outputs work on HMS (phewwww!!) and the culprit, I think from the above diagnosis, is the cable. I have this cable from Chord Company on the way, which should hopefully produce the full HMS experience with the Hugo2.